Air only coming out of defrost, no clicking noise

[jmelick07]

I went to turn on my AC today in my 14' and the air is only coming out of the defrost vents, nothing out of the top ones. I don't have any clicking noises from the blend doors (drivers side has been replaced twice). I already pulled the fust from the climate control and put it back and I still have the same issue. AC blows cold, just only out of the defrost, which is definitely sub-optimal. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[CarGuy]

The vehicle has 3 blend doors. Any one of them could have failed. You can watch 2 of them move when changing airflow direction. If they move they aren't bad. The one behind the glove box is easy to see once you drop the glove box. The one on the drivers side is easy to see with a nice bright flashlight and nothing has to be disassembled. Check them for movement. The third one I don't know how to see it. I think you access it from the passenger side but more toward the top and I'm not sure if it is visible.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[jmelick07]

The vehicle has 3 blend doors. Any one of them could have failed. You can watch 2 of them move when changing airflow direction. If they move they aren't bad. The one behind the glove box is easy to see once you drop the glove box. The one on the drivers side is easy to see with a nice bright flashlight and nothing has to be disassembled. Check them for movement. The third one I don't know how to see it. I think you access it from the passenger side but more toward the top and I'm not sure if it is visible.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

If a blend door is bad will it always click? I am not hearing any clicking at all.

 

[CarGuy]

While most seem to click you could always have one totally fail and not make a sound.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[jmelick07]

While most seem to click you could always have one totally fail and not make a sound.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

If one fails does it make it so the air doesn't move from the upper/lower vents to defrost? I have had my drivers side fair twice and both times the air was still moving between the vents. Also, this is happening on both the drivers and passengers side.

 

[CarGuy]

If one fails does it make it so the air doesn't move from the upper/lower vents to defrost? I have had my drivers side fair twice and both times the air was still moving between the vents. Also, this is happening on both the drivers and passengers side.

I'm not sure which actuator controls which function. Maybe someone else can chime in.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[rcnut14]

I am 95% sure that the driver's side controls the defrost and the other 2 control everything else.

I would go under there with a flashlight and see if it tries to move when you change settings.

the clicking it because the gears usually chip/strip and that's the clicking you hear. but if the servo just straight up dies it wouldn't make noise.

 

[jmelick07]

I am 95% sure that the driver's side controls the defrost and the other 2 control everything else.

I would go under there with a flashlight and see if it tries to move when you change settings.

the clicking it because the gears usually chip/strip and that's the clicking you hear. but if the servo just straight up dies it wouldn't make noise.

Thanks for this! In theory I could also manually move the little white gear to see if that moves the air as well correct? I've replaced the drivers side once before myself, just a huge pain as everyone knows.

 

[rcnut14]

well yes, the white gear that is exposed is mechanically connected to the "flaps" that control airflow. so you could use it to manually adjust the defroster.

 

[Capri to ST]

I think of the three actuators, one may control the mode door, which controls where the air comes from.One may be for the blend door, which controls whether the air is fresh or recirculated, and the third one may control the temperature.
This is just a guess, just offering it for whatever help it might be.

 

[jmelick07]

well yes, the white gear that is exposed is mechanically connected to the "flaps" that control airflow. so you could use it to manually adjust the defroster.

I was just thinking if I turn that manually on the drivers side one I can determine if that is the actuator that adjusts which vents the air comes out of.

 

[SteveS]

The Mode Door switches the location the air comes out of. This page shows them by name https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...r+conditioning,heater+air+door+actuator,10721

This one is the Mode Door. There's an explanation on the item page. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3102774&cc=3443037&pt=10721&jsn=463

Where each one is located I don't know, but when we had the mode door replaced under warranty, the tech at the dealer was surprised how easy it was to change; he had told us it would take all day, and then he was done in just an hour or so.

 

[Capri to ST]

The Mode Door switches the location the air comes out of. This page shows them by name https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...r+conditioning,heater+air+door+actuator,10721

This one is the Mode Door. There's an explanation on the item page. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3102774&cc=3443037&pt=10721&jsn=463

Where each one is located I don't know, but when we had the mode door replaced under warranty, the tech at the dealer was surprised how easy it was to change; he had told us it would take all day, and then he was done in just an hour or so.

That's a really helpful explanation, thanks for posting it.

 

[jmelick07]

The Mode Door switches the location the air comes out of. This page shows them by name https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...r+conditioning,heater+air+door+actuator,10721

This one is the Mode Door. There's an explanation on the item page. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3102774&cc=3443037&pt=10721&jsn=463

Where each one is located I don't know, but when we had the mode door replaced under warranty, the tech at the dealer was surprised how easy it was to change; he had told us it would take all day, and then he was done in just an hour or so.

This is extremely helpful! Now I just need to figure out where the mode door is located...

 

[SrsBsns]

My money is on the blend door actuator not being installed properly. I made this mistake. Installed a new actuator to replace one that was clicking. After install, no clicking, but my vents wouldn't switch.

What I did was to take the actuator out and spin it around so that the white gear goes into the slot perfectly. Then I rotated the actuator back into position and bolted it up. When I did this, I could feel the gear grabbing and moving the door.

I think a lot of people make this mistake since if you just line up the actuator with it's correct orientation and install it, the gear will slot into place... just not the right place.

 

[jmelick07]

My money is on the blend door actuator not being installed properly. I made this mistake. Installed a new actuator to replace one that was clicking. After install, no clicking, but my vents wouldn't switch.

What I did was to take the actuator out and spin it around so that the white gear goes into the slot perfectly. Then I rotated the actuator back into position and bolted it up. When I did this, I could feel the gear grabbing and moving the door.

I think a lot of people make this mistake since if you just line up the actuator with it's correct orientation and install it, the gear will slot into place... just not the right place.

Do you think this is possible even though it's worked for the past two years after I installed the actuator?

 

[SrsBsns]

Do you think this is possible even though it's worked for the past two years after I installed the actuator?

Oh, my mistake. I didn't realize that the part is 2 years old. I assumed you had just installed a new one and the doors weren't moving after the install. I wouldn't think this would be the case on a 2 year old part or a part where it's already demonstrated that its working.

 

[jmelick07]

Oh, my mistake. I didn't realize that the part is 2 years old. I assumed you had just installed a new one and the doors weren't moving after the install. I wouldn't think this would be the case on a 2 year old part or a part where it's already demonstrated that its working.

Do we know for sure that the drivers side actuator is the one that controls which vents the air flows to? I'm hesitant to start digging into the dash again without knowing that for sure and it seems like that wasn't a settled topic yet.

 

[rcnut14]

no.

just peek in there with a flashlight and mess with the controls. look at the driver's side and the passenger side and see which one doesn't move.

 

[SrsBsns]

Do we know for sure that the drivers side actuator is the one that controls which vents the air flows to? I'm hesitant to start digging into the dash again without knowing that for sure and it seems like that wasn't a settled topic yet.

In this thread, people are saying there are 3 actuators. I only know of 2.
The driver's side is the one that controls the vents. The passenger's side controls the recirculation.
I'm not sure if there's a 3rd, but I'm confident that the driver's side controls the different vents.